U.S. Pat. No. 3,797,069 relates to an apparatus for extruding spherically shaped food products such as meatballs, dumplings, and the like which are extruded onto a moving conveyer from horizontally elongated extrusion apparatus which overlies and extends transversely the conveyer. The apparatus comprises a ure plates mounted in the bottom of the chamber for reciprocation lengthwise of the chamber chamber for containing an extrudable quantity of food, a pair of superimposed apert and means for reciprocating the plates. This device uses an extruder to cut and make the shapes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,229,859 relates to a process and apparatus for making substantially disked shaped meat patties having substantially uniform weight from substantially cylindrical masses of ground meat. The cylindrical mass of ground meat are placed on the conveyer and while the conveyer is continuously advancing they are flattened by at least one flattening means such as a piston press, to form patties which look like, taste like, and have the texture of homemade patties. This device is used to flatten patties and does not make spheres.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,217,117 relates to a device for shaping portions of minced meat such as steak and meatballs. The invention relates to arrangements comprising combinations of: a mincer providing a stream of mince meat, conveying means with an endless band for transporting the stream, exiting from the mincer and arranged along the conveyer means, means for cutting the stream into portions and means for lateral shaping, acting simultaneously on both sides of the stream to shape the contour of the portions. This device is a machine which uses nests or blocks to surround the meat and form it into a meatball.
Current meatball rolling equipment consists of a conveyor which moves meatballs away from the forming machine. The meatballs are conveyed under a plate which moves transversely to the direction of the conveyer. This plate contains some type of a pattern which prevents slippage of the meatballs while in contact with the plate. The plate can either have a pattern in the surface contacting the meatballs or the pattern can be attached by adhesive or any one of mechanical fastening devices such as staples, screws and nuts. This plate must have a fine adjusting mechanism to make incremental and very small adjustments, less than 0.01 inches, to regulate the process. The conveyer speed and the transverse speed can be independently controlled.
Current machines consist of a product conveyor which moves the meatballs from the machine. A transverse drive moves the upper conveyor at a right angle to the direction of travel. An upper conveyor replaces the plate on the machine.